THE ADRENAL SECRETION AND PULMONARY RESPIRATION. 125 



But, as we know that the suprarenal secretion, on the contrary, 

 possesses a strong affinity for oxygen, it must hold the hemo- 

 globin constituents together through the effects of this prop- 

 erty. The lungs are the only organs in man in which the 

 blood becomes oxidized. Hence, the suprarenal secretion must 

 also meet the hemoglobin constituents in the lung, and, as 

 its affinity for oxygen can only serve its purpose in the pres- 

 ence of this gas, the alveoli must be the seat of the process 

 through which the haemoglobin constituents are united with 

 the suprarenal secretion. As the reagents used to chemic- 

 ally disintegrate haemoglobin include acids which act mainly 

 through their affinity for oxygen, any combination presenting 

 a similar affinity for oxygen can chemically simulate an acid. 

 Hence, haemoglobin, through its union with suprarenal secretion, 

 acquires a degree of affinity for oxygen commensurate with -that 

 of the suprarenal secretion, and thus becomes sufficiently active 

 as a reagent to simulate an acid. 



This deduction coincidently meets the needs of the re- 

 spiratory process denned by Mathias Duval: A degree of 

 affinity far higher than that thought to depend solely upon 

 the mutual attraction shown by the various constituents of 

 haemoglobin is provided. As the hydrogen in hemoglobin or 

 the various constituents referred to seem at no time to be dis- 

 placed by a metal during its peregrinations through the normal 

 or diseased organism, the blood-pigment cannot be considered 

 as an acid, and Eobin and Verdeil's search for a "pneumonic 

 acid" in the lungs was obviously fruitless. Yet, when it comes 

 to Garnier's ultramarine-blue test, the powerful affinity con- 

 ferred on the hemoglobin by the suprarenal secretion fully 

 accounts for the loss of color noted in the fluid injected in the 

 lungs of guinea-pigs. Its contact with alveolar surfaces really 

 meant contact with a powerful reagent capable of simulating 

 "a strong acid" in its effects, though no acid, as chemistry 

 interprets this term, could be said to be present. 



Suprarenal insufficiency caused by the entrance of poison- 

 ous elements into the circulation gives rise, we have seen, to 

 a condition of the hemoglobin in which it is said to be "in 

 loose combination." Evidently, then, the suprarenal secretion 

 serves to hold the constituents of the blood-pigment together, 



